For both books, the research fellow at the Sloan Center on Aging & Work at Boston College surveyed roughly 155 people over 60 working full-time or part-time and followed up with one-on-one interviews with a few dozen of them.

Fideler discovered striking differences — and similarities — between these men and women who continue working.

I spoke with her about the survey findings and the highlights of the interview are below.

But first a caveat: Because she used what’s known as the “snowball methodology” for the survey (asking colleagues and friends to complete it or telling them and the women who answered the first book’s questionnaire to send it to working professional men over 60), it’s not representative of all 60+ American men who are still employed.

“There are a large number of men who are working because they need to. The people I surveyed, by and large, have a choice in the matter, and they’re very fortunate in that way,” said Fideler.

Next Avenue: Why did you decide to write this book?

Fideler: I had such a good response to the first book and at the book party, men came up to me and said: What about us? I took the hint and went from there.

Were there any differences between the demographics of the men and women who filled out the surveys?

The men were, on average, older than the women; I received surveys from men age 60 to 93. The men had worked more years and were making a lot more money than the women, on average.

Men had more doctorates and advanced professional degrees than the women — maybe because they started earlier and had the financial requisites to get the highest degrees they could. It’s not because they were smarter.

More of the men are working full time, not part-time — especially those 70 and older.

Why do you think the men who answered the survey were older than the women?

For this survey, I had a greater number of people in their 80s still working. The men tended to come of age in the ‘60s and ‘70s when you were supposed to get a job, be a provider and be the head of household.